Grande, 60, of 87 Maple Drive, Hermitage, killed Deborra DeSantis, his 47-year-old girlfriend, in the bathroom of her 900 Laurel Drive home last May. Grande told Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Francis J. Fornelli that he remembers killing Ms. DeSantis, but he doesn’t know why he did it.

Grande’s attorney, Don Lewis of Meadville, read a statement Grande gave to police within an hour after the slaying. In his statement, Grande said: He and Ms. DeSantis were in the bathtub together when he put her head under the water and held it there against her will. He went on to say he then raised her head out of the water and hit it against the wall many times before holding her under water again.

Friday, Grande agreed with the accuracy of his statement.

District Attorney James P. Epstein said Grande repeatedly used the phrase, "I snapped out," during his confession.

Epstein agreed to drop the charge of first-degree murder if Grande pleaded to third-degree murder.

Third-degree murder is criminal homicide committed with malice, but is not planned, Fornelli said. He said it carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and up to $50,000 in fines. The minimum prison sentence is 20 years, he said.

"It’s a very sad case," Epstein said. He said the DeSantis family is coping with the loss but it has been difficult. "This brings them some closure," he said.

Epstein said Ms. DeSantis’s family agreed with Grande’s plea because they understood that the crime was "spur of the moment." He said both the family and the police were aware that the case would probably end in a plea agreement.

Grande’s hearing had been postponed three times before March when he fired his first attorney, Wayne Hundertmark of Franklin. Hundertmark said he, like Grande, has mental health problems. Fornelli had said he did not think it would stop Hundertmark from effectively defending his client.

Before Grande’s plea several petitions were filed in the case. One said the state did not have enough evidence to prosecute. Another asked to suppress the statements Grande made to the police about his guilt.

A third asked to have Fornelli removed from the case because Grande’s attorney felt the judge could not be fair and impartial. Fornelli explained that while he knew the DeSantis family in a casual sense, he actually knows the Grande family better because Grande’s wife, Joanne, works at the county jail.

Lewis and Grande said they were satisfied with Fornelli staying with the case and understood that Grande’s guilty plea voided the petitions.

Grande is set to be sentenced at 9 a.m. June 7 by Fornelli. After his sentencing any possibility of probation will be up to the state prison board.

Grande will be moved from the Mercer County Jail in the next several days because his wife works there, Epstein said.

The DeSantises said they did not wish to comment.